Church - One of Many Definitions

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary Church Derived probably from the Greek kuriakon (i.e., "the Lord's house"), which was used by ancient authors for the place of worship. In the New Testament it is the translation of the Greek word ecclesia, which is synonymous with the Hebrew "kahal" of the Old Testament, both words meaning simply an assembly, the character of which can only be known from the connection in which the word is found. There is no clear instance of its being used for a place of meeting or of worship, although in post-apostolic times it early received this meaning. Nor is this word ever used to denote the inhabitants of a country united in the same profession, as when we say the "Church of England," the "Church of Scotland," etc. We find the word ecclesia used in the following senses in the New Testament: (1.) It is translated "assembly" in the ordinary classical sense (Acts 19:32, 39, 41). (2.) It denotes the whole body of the redeemed, all those whom the Father has given to Christ, the invisible catholic church (Eph. 5:23, 25, 27, 29; Heb. 12:23). (3.) A few Christians associated together in observing the ordinances of the gospel are an ecclesia (Rom. 16:5; Col. 4:15). (4.) All the Christians in a particular city, whether they assembled together in one place or in several places for religious worship, were an ecclesia. Thus all the disciples in Antioch, forming several congregations, were one church (Acts 13:1); so also we read of the "church of God at Corinth" (1 Cor. 1:2), "the church at Jerusalem" (Acts 8:1), "the church of Ephesus" (Rev. 2:1), etc. (5.) The whole body of professing Christians throughout the world (1 Cor. 15:9; Gal. 1:13; Matt. 16:18) are the church of Christ. The church visible "consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion, together with their children." It is called "visible" because its members are known and its assemblies are public. Here there is a mixture of "wheat and chaff," of saints and sinners. "God has commanded his people to organize themselves into distinct visible ecclesiastical communities, with constitutions, laws, and officers, badges, ordinances, and discipline, for the great purpose of giving visibility to his kingdom, of making known the gospel of that kingdom, and of gathering in all its elect subjects. Each one of these distinct organized communities which is faithful to the great King is an integral part of the visible church, and all together constitute the catholic or universal visible church." A credible profession of the true religion constitutes a person a member of this church. This is "the kingdom of heaven," whose character and progress are set forth in the parables recorded in Matt. 13. The children of all who thus profess the true religion are members of the visible church along with their parents. Children are included in every covenant God ever made with man. They go along with their parents (Gen. 9:9-17; 12:1-3; 17:7; Ex. 20:5; Deut. 29:10-13). Peter, on the day of Pentecost, at the beginning of the New Testament dispensation, announces the same great principle. "The promise [just as to Abraham and his seed the promises were made] is unto you, and to your children" (Acts 2:38, 39). The children of believing parents are "holy", i.e., are "saints", a title which designates the members of the Christian church (1 Cor. 7:14). The church invisible "consists of the whole number of the elect that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one under Christ, the head thereof." This is a pure society, the church in which Christ dwells. It is the body of Christ. it is called "invisible" because the greater part of those who constitute it are already in heaven or are yet unborn, and also because its members still on earth cannot certainly be distinguished. The qualifications of membership in it are internal and are hidden. It is unseen except by Him who "searches the heart." "The Lord knoweth them that are his" (2 Tim. 2:19). The church to which the attributes, prerogatives, and promises appertaining to Christ's kingdom belong, is a spiritual body consisting of all true believers, i.e., the church invisible. (1.) Its unity. God has ever had only one church on earth. We sometimes speak of the Old Testament Church and of the New Testament church, but they are one and the same. The Old Testament church was not to be changed but enlarged (Isa. 49:13-23; 60:1-14). When the Jews are at length restored, they will not enter a new church, but will be grafted again into "their own olive tree" (Rom. 11:18-24; comp. Eph. 2:11-22). The apostles did not set up a new organization. Under their ministry disciples were "added" to the "church" already existing (Acts 2:47). [Dictionary.com Unabridged cath·o·lic /ˈkæθəlɪk, ˈkæθlɪk/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[kath-uh-lik, kath-lik] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –adjective 1. broad or wide-ranging in tastes, interests, or the like; having sympathies with all; broad-minded; liberal. 2. universal in extent; involving all; of interest to all. 3. pertaining to the whole Christian body or church. ] (2.) Its universality. It is the "catholic" church; not confined to any particular country or outward organization, but comprehending all believers throughout the whole world. (3.) Its perpetuity. It will continue through all ages to the end of the world. It can never be destroyed. It is an "everlasting kindgdom." Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

Tagged by RoG

Okay so this is the thing...RoG from Walking Church tagged me and these are the instructions. I love games... 1) grab the nearest book to you 2) go to page 123 3) go to the fourth sentence and post the next three sentences 4) name the title and author of the book 5) tag three others to do the same Two books did not have page numbers...how weird is that? The thing is I never would have even known this if this game of tag had not come about. So Soul Cravings and The Dust Off Their Feet ....the two top books in the pile beside my desk could not be included....yes, I can count to 123 but I didn't want to! "It may be at times you are so full of love and so awestruck at His presence that you do not know how to speak. That is all right! Your Father is far more pleased with these words - words which He sees pouring out from a heart that is full of love - than He could ever be by elaborate-sounding words that are dry and lifeless." Jeanne Guyon from Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ. Third in the pile. I love to play games .....it is the rules that confuzzle me. I will tag: Redeemed Riders Hislifeinme graceroots We might have to wait on the Lord for some of these responses. :) Thanks RoG.....How many pounds of books have you read on Sparks, so far? Keep it coming!

Soul Cravings

Image by www.christianbook.com

Soul Cravings by Erwin RaphaelMcManus is a book of entries, (journal like), about the cravings of the soul, about the search for God and the deep desire to meet Him. An interesting read, where truth is scattered throughout and touches the places that are deep within and at times become difficult to think about, let alone talk about. Ever since I read the "Barbarian Way" by this author, I have wanted to look at another title. This one is reaching me. I love the way the author brings this down to my level. I understand, emotionally and spiritually the experiences of which he speaks in simple english. He talks a lot about longing to belong, looking for love and coming to the place where one knows the God is that place, first and foremost, and then extensions of that fall into place. That is my unsophisticated take on this book. I enjoy his upfrontedness. It does not offend me. This life is about realness. I like that. These are some excerpts from "Entry #9". One example of how McManus speaks to me through this book. "I meet people who are running from God, angry with God, and yet at the same time desperately searching for him. If God is love, it is maddening when we are running from God and yet searching for love." "Sometimes the thing we want the most, we fear the most." "When it comes to love, often we are our own worst enemies. When we've been hurt in the past, when we feel that love has betrayed us, we can easily become the enemies of love. To see if it's real, we do everything we can to destroy it. We tell ourselves we're testing it, but actually we're resisting it." "The truth of the matter is that we're uncomfortable with God. We're disoriented by the way he loves." "We want God to love us for an endless number of good reasons." "At the same time, we find ourselves nervous before him because he sees right through us and knows everything that isn't lovable. He tells us that he is our place of rest and acceptance and unconditional love, yet we cannot reconcile this love. We know who we are. We know all that is unlovely within us. We wonder how we have become worthy of such love, and that's what worries us - we know we're not. So we escape our own sense of unworthiness; we run from God because we are certain that the closer we come to him, the more guilt and shame we will feel." "It's just too hard to believe that if yu come near to God, you will find yourself not drowning in condemnation, but swimming in compassion. Jesus called to all who were weary and who found their souls exhausted to come to him and find rest. He is telling us that God will be for us our place called home. We run from God because we long to be loved and we have convinced ourselves that the One who is most loving could not and would not embrace us. We run from the One our souls crave." "....We have no real experience of unconditional love, and it goes without saying that conditional love always leaves us wanting. But at least with conditional love we have some control over the situation." So as I read through these fragments of McManus' words..... I found myself so wonderfully blessed to know the Truth that is Jesus. The Grace that is Jesus. The Forgiveness that is Jesus. The Love that is Jesus. The journey through the cravings of this soul, has been long and continues to be one of returning to the knowledge that has come over time. He is Everything. He makes ALL things new. He is Love that does not die. As McManus states......"It is insanity to run from God and search for love."

Just a Little More

"So it is with truth. Scripture cautions us, because we 'suppress the truth in unrighteousness.' We stifle the natural voice and direction of truth, and we twist it to fit our wills and our ways. But even the sinful way we hold truth doesn't make it less true. The truth remains the truth. We may take good things and pervert them, but that doesn't mean they are not good. It means that what we've done with them isn't good, like eating so much Healthy Choice ice cream that it's no longer a healthy choice." "We often begin by holding the gold (the nuggets of truth hidden in fairy tales) and end up cluthching it so tightly it becomes a disfigured, misshapen image. This is the way we start to build castles in the air. We take good gifts, greedily cling to them, and even worship them, ignoring the Giver of these gifts. ....it becomes idolatry that will deform our hearts and make them vulnerable." "When we are accused of living in a world of denial or of fairy-tale thinking, it's pretty safe to say we went there for good reasons. We want the good stuff." Taken from the book Keeping a Princess Heart, by Nicole Johnson. I shall end this short look into this book....with a quote she uses from Oswald Chambers. "Temptation is a suggested short cut to the realization of the highest at which I aim - not towards what I understand as evil, but towards what I understand as good." In Him, Looking forward to living out the most wonderful and grandest happily ever after of all time, because He is Truth and Faithful and His Word is true. The vision of John is no fairy tale but our hope in Him.

Why not?

Well, it is time for a kind of girly girl kind of a post from nightwatch. Only those brothers who are comfortable with fairy tales should proceed. :) Actually this post can be read by all...take what you will away from it.....theologically simple....a great read and food for thought....for all of us who desire a better world. Taken from a book by Nicole Johnson....Keeping a Princess Heart. "It is right that we should desire to live in a world full of love. Our hopes to have beautiful homes and lovely gardens are neither bad nor wrong. Our longings for happy endings are good. All these hungers remind us that our hearts are homesick for a better world - a world that runs the way it is supposed to, a world not ruined by sin. For it is sin, or the way the world has gone wrong, that is the real wrong - not our desires, not our dreams, not our longings. Paul Marshall writes this in Heaven Is Not My Home: Sin is not the story; it is the blight on the story. Sin distorts everything, perverts everything, and corrupts everything. It is not sin that makes us bear children, but it is sin that makes us bear children, but it is sin that makes childbearing painful. It is not sin that attracts men and women, but it is sin that fills our relations with control and suspicions. It is not sin that makes music, but it is sin that fills our songs with vanity and lust. It is not sin that makes us construct cities and towers, but it is sin that makes those towers symbols of pride and power. It is not sin that calls human beings to live and love, to make music, and art, to work and create, to plant and to harvest, to play and dance. But it is sin that undercuts and perverts them all. Sin does not create things. It has no originality, no creativity, no being in itself. Sin lives off that which is good. It is a parasite, feeding greedily on the goodness of what God has made. The goodness of what God has made and the hints of the way/the world should have gone are evident everywhere. We see it so clearly when we are captivated by nature's raw beauty. We notice it when we are playing or throwing our heads back in laughter. We experience it when we are dancing or reading poetry. We taste it when we sit down to a great meal. And we feel it most keenly when we love. There is so much to taste and see and enjoy and feel in the lives God has given us. But alas, as wonderful as it all is, it still falls short. Beauty is marred, the laughter ends, the dance is over, nature changes, and love wounds. Nothing lasts. Even the dusk is poignant in its own way. Everything around us has been touched by sin, and even the best things are affected. So it is with truth......." More to come....hope your curiosity has been tickled.

What Grace Looks Like

Check out a great article on grace called, "Tuesdays with Harry - Sharing Time", posted on http://emergentvoyageurs.blog.com/ Life is too short to be unaccepting of those who cross our path in different ways on different days. Christ in us...would not even contemplate shunning anyone that was different. In fact, He would embrace them. He would love them. He will do this through us. Might we be as gracious as the gathering in this article was.

John 15:5

From the Amplified Bible "I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing." Thank you My Father for that!

WHAT?!

Matthew 5:43-44 KJV "You have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love they neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." How did God ever think or know that we were going to handle this Look around you....it just isn't happening! That is the point isn't it? In and of ourselves this can never happen. We just haven't got it in us ..... or do we? Jesus can do this perfectly through us as we allow. Who better to manifest this principle through us. I know I could never, ever, not ever.....on my own....yep, weak and determined, I am going to hold on to that bitterness and resentment forever....He has freed me from that and loosened me ..... He does it through me. It doesn't get any better than that! Peace!

Matthew 5:38-42

Giving of ourselves......to others because of Him. "You have heard that it was said, "Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. 'But I tell you. Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.'" Matthew 5:38-42 Before we start justifying ourselves....or the New Covenant, or the fact that Christ had not yet finished what He came to earth to finish, once and for all, just look at what He calls us to do. It goes against the grain of our very self....our very flesh. How could we.....how could we possibly do this and.....not say a word. Hmmm.

Abandonment

"What is abandonment? It is forgetting your past; it is leaving the future in His hands; it is devoting the present fully and completely to your Lord. Abandonment is being satisfied with the present moment, no matter what the moment contains. You are satisfied because you know that whatever that moment has, it contains - in that instant - God's eternal plan for you." "Abandonment is casting off all your cares. Abandonment is dropping all your needs. This includes spiritual needs. Let me repeat that, for it is not easily grasped. Abandonment is laying aside, forever, all of your spiritual needs." Jeanne Guyon from Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ

Being the Church today....

picture by http://www.wnyc.org/

Well, out for a morning of fellowship with walkingchurch this a.m. and I went back through some information on this word Koinonia that fascinated me then and even more now. What fellowship and community and coming alongside one another means and what that looks like. Walkingchurch is coming into its own and with Jesus as the central focus in any activity, it becomes a true blessing from God. I think He is teaching each one of us so many things that a walk around the park can be just that or so much more. This information came from a couple of different sources and having now lost those....I am very bad at keeping track of information. If this is something you sent or recommended to me.......sorry. This word koinonia......has many different meanings...these are the ones that touch my heart today. Koinonia is the anglicisation of a Greek word that means partnership or fellowship. The word is used frequently in the New Testament of the Bible to describe the relationship within the early Christian church. As a result the word is used frequently within Christian circles to describe the fellowship and community of Christians - or more frequently the idealised state of fellowship and community that should exist. Many Christian organisations use the word Koinonia in their titles, particularly if one of their objectives is the establishment of community. The Spiritual Meaning of Koinonia The word has such a multitude of meanings that no single English word is adequate to express its depth and richness. It is a derivative of "koinos," the word for common. Koinonia, is a complex, rich, and thoroughly fascinating Greek approach to building community or teamwork. Those who have studied the word find there is always an implication of action included in its meaning. The definition of the word is quite rich in that there are many connotations because the word used in a variety of related contexts. Fellowship : To create a bond between comrades is the meaning of koinonia when people are recognized, share their joy and pains together, and are united because of their common experiences, interests and goals. Fellowship creates a mutual bond which overrides each individual’s pride, vanity, and individualism, fulfilling the human yearning with fraternity, belonging, and companionship. This meaning of koinonia accounts for the ease by which sharing and generosity flow. When combined with the spiritual implications of koinonia, fellowship provides a joint participation in God’s graces and denotes that common possession of spiritual values. Thus early Greco-Roman Christians had a fellowship with God, sharing the common experience of joys, fears, tears, and divine glory. In this manner, those who shared believed their true wealth lay not in what they had, but in what they gave to others. Fellowship is never passive in the meaning of koinonia, it is always linked to action, not just being together, but also doing together. With fellowship comes a close and intimate relationship embracing ideas, communication, and frankness, as in a true, blessed interdependent friendship among multiple group members. Community : The idea of community denotes a “common unity” of purpose and interests. By engaging in this united relationship a new level of consciousness and conscience emerges that spurs the group to higher order thinking and action, thus empowering and encouraging its members to exist in a mutually beneficial relationship. Thus community and family become closely intertwined, because aiming at a common unity strives to overcome brokenness, divisiveness, and, ultimately gaining wholeness with each of the members, with their environment, and with their God. By giving mutual support, friendship and family merge. Both fellowship and community imply an inner and outer unity. No where in the framework of community is their implied a hierarchy of command and control. While there is leadership, the leader’s task is to focus energy, and align interests, not impose control. Koinonia creates a brethren bond which builds trust and, especially when combined with the values of Wisdom, Virtue and Honor, overcomes two of humanity’s deepest fears and insecurities: being betrayed and being demeaned. Whether working collectively or individually, the innovators of ancient Greece worked for the greater good of the whole – to propel their community forward, to share their understanding with others so that all ships would rise on a rising tide. Thus loftier goals and dreams are more easily manifested in the mind and achieved in reality.

LEAD ON!

Well, friends, brothers and sisters,

We reach the final day of 2006.

This year has been probably the most intense for coming to know....really know the One.

He has revealed...He has lead....He has become my reason for life...because He is Life to me.

Things of this earth are so much fading away.

I mean, I have my family, my work, my earthly enjoyments and activities....

But nothing compares to this Life that is Him.

What fresh joy and revelations and confidences He has shared with me this past year.

What wonderful people I have crossed paths with.....ok, some not so wonderful....

But that has been sooooo good as well.

What great writers of His revelations I have come to read because He lead me to them.

He has brought me to this moment, today and I thank Him, even in the pain....I know that

He is my Life. It gets no better than this. Eternal Life has begun this year for me....

really and truly the understanding of this has begun....I had eternal life before...what it

entailed....I did not know. Coming to this awareness has freed me. I have Abundant Life.

He is in me. I am in Him. He brings me His Peace.

I PRAISE HIM!

Thanks again to all who have helped me realize this Truth that have helped Him bring me to this moment.

It is all Him....but He used you all as vessels of Himself. I have seen the Lord in each one of you. Blessed is His Name!

Joyous New Year!

Shiny and New and woo hoo for 2007

Well, as you can see I have crossed over to the new blogger side.....I only attempted this because I had three of my four kids home to come to my aid should I falter with the transition. :) They keep trying to get me to go to "MYSPACE".....but I am not jumping ship....I have come this far. :) Hope you like the new layout and really, in light of eternity and Kingdom business who really cares....although I think He delights in the things that bring us delight. Starting the new look of the blog with this quote from Manning....(of course), from Abba's Child. With the busyness of Christmas this and that....we forget to listen. Listening to Him.....brings us to that place....where everything else becomes unimportant...or at least secondary to hearing His Voice. "It took only a few hours of silence before I began to hear my soul speaking. It only took being alone for a short period of time for me to discover I wasn't alone. God had been trying to shout over the noisiness of my life, and I couldn't hear Him. But in the stillness and solitude, His whispers shouted from my soul, '_____ , I am here. I have been calling you, but you haven't been listening. Can you hear Me, _____? I love you. I have always loved you. And I have been waiting for you to hear Me say that to you. But you have been so busy trying to prove to yourself you are loved that you have not heard Me.' I heard Him, and my slumbering soul was filled with the joy of the prodigal son. My soul was awakened by a loving Father who had been looking and waiting for me. Finally, I accepted my brokenness....I had never come to terms with that. Let me explain. I knew was broken. I knew I was a sinner. I knew I continually disappointed God, but I could never accept that part of me. It was a part of me that embarassed me. I continually felt the need to apologize, to run from my weaknesses, to deny who I was and concentrate on what I should be. I was broken, yes, but I was continually trying never to be broken again - or at least to get to the place where I was very seldom broken.... It became very clear to me that I had totally misunderstood the Christian faith. I came to see that it was in my brokenness, in my powerlessness, in my weakness that Jesus was made strong."

The 200th Post

Over the last year, there has been much commentary and sharing of commentary and ideas and frustrations and events and thoughts, dreams and desires. Yep, I know ..... I never really go too deep but maintain that calm, cool exterior that you have all come to love and appreciate. :)

I really never thought that I had so much to say about mostly my life....but I have come to a place where I have much to say about my LIFE.....which is Jesus Christ in me and through me and around me. Not that I impose .... but I do like to share. :) (at least on this blog, some might add.....I can't help it...I am more introspective and reflective and not so much open and communicative in the conversations I have throughout my day that is really His day). :)

How appropriate that this Christmas Eve Day, 2006 should be my 200th posting.

How much I appreciate and love each one of you that turns to this blog...in a sort of more or less regularity and gleans what little there is to glean. I am here with Him..... and you have helped me come to this place. The community... the fellowship and the Truth that is shared is unmatched in the rest of this life that is mine in this world. There is a difference, an understanding, a kinship that comes from knowing this One ..... JESUS......as I have come to know Him in this season of my life.

I thank you all....and extend all the love and warmth that He births from me at this time as we stop to recognize this great Love and Grace that is Jesus, born not so long ago into a humanity that He embraced for you and for me.

May you each enjoy this time of celebration with family and friends and enjoy Life as it was meant to be.....abundant and free, wherever you be.....know that you are loved and thought of and prayed for. (I do this as much as I can but He always does it perfectly).

God's rich and bountiful blessings are upon us all. What a wondrous Life this is!

So here is the thing....

So I have been....like you all have been probably....making plans for Christmas and getting it all together, even though it isn't my birthday or anyone in my family's birthday...buying the gifts and sharing the wealth ....etc....etc....running around and yet still 'trying' to maintain a focus of some kind on what this crazy time of year is really about....and that can be almost impossible....and I work in a Christian bookstore....go figure that one out. Any whoo.....I digress, yet again..... I get two whammies this week and they are totally different in scope and yet if you bear with me.....let me bring it together and into some understanding.... :) So I have seen the doctor....for a routine kind of a thing....He lays big news on me that I must treat this earthsuit a little better.....enough said.... Now this is an answer to prayer....yep, I dared to pray the prayer that He must do a work in me ....cuz I can't do this in my own strength and I most definitely knew I needed to do something ....now, look where I sit....with a definite change of lifestyle ....going to be imposed upon me....and that, my friends....hard as that is to believe is a real gift....an obvious answer to prayer. It took me a few days to see it as such but ...yep....watch what you pray for. But how cool is that. It also means I am probably nearer to actually seeing Jesus than I might have thought.....but I am ok with this as well... :) So bottom line, God is good and He is right there, in control. Secondly, I got a message off my phone yesterday......a very loooong message, from a woman in the study group.....without getting too up in the clouds and breaching any confidences....she basically told me that she had seen Jesus.....now ....you might start wondering..... what's up with that....but, listen up....she saw Him in me..... now .... I am not tooting anything....I was astonished and a little put off by her words....cuz there were a few more words than that.....it blew me away....she affirmed what I have come to know...and what I am trying to appropriate more every day and that is that He is truly and actually living in me and through me .....as me! That is what is so astounding to me.... Jesus is actually shining through this tarnished and so imperfect tent...and even though it is falling apart ....and wearing at the seams.....and in need of an over-haul...He is still within.....and showing Himself....despite me. He blows me away.....every day! It is because of Him .......and only because of Him......in and of myself.....forget it .

Devotions for my life....

HIS VICTORIOUS INDWELLING.......DEC. 18/06 "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in and eat with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20 There is no part of my being that is not laid open to the Divine Guest. There are no rooms of the house of my spirit, into which He may not go. Let Him come with the master key in His hand into all the dim chambers of your feeble nature; and as the one life is light in the eye, and color in the cheek, and deftness in the fingers, and strength in the arm, and pulsation in the heart, so He will come with the manifold results of the one gift to you. He will be like some subtle elixir which, taken into the lips, steals through a pallid and wasted frame, and brings back a glow to the cheek and a luster to the eye, and swiftness to the brain, and power to the whole nature. Or as some plant, drooping and flagging beneath the hot rays of the sun, when it has the scent of water given to it, will, in all its parts, stiffen and erect itself, so when the Spirit is poured out on men, their whole nature is invigorated and helped. Alexander MacLaren REFLECTIONS FOR RAGAMUFFINS Hope in my Savior The Christmas contemplative knows that hope is a gift, an undeserved gift of peace, but that it is also a call to decision - the decision to trust..... Hope thrives on the difficult and challenges the conclusion that our only contribution to the world will be, in the words of T.S. Eliot, "an asphalt driveway in front of our home and a thousand lost golf balls." Hope convinces us that in clinging to a miserable sense of security and status quo, the possibility of growth and greatness is utterly defeated. Hope says that I no longer need to be dismayed over my personal dishonesty and self-centeredness and feeble life of faith. That I no longer need to feel defeated, insensitive, and superficial. Because the question no longer is: Can I do it? Am I able? Can I overcome my moodiness, my laziness, my sensuality, my grudges, and resentments? The only question is: Is Jesus Christ able? Can my Savior, the Lord of my life, revive any drooping spirit and transform me at Christmas as he transformed the world through his birth in Bethlehem? "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

That Flesh

This I received in my in-box today although it was obviously written 6 years ago. How timely is His hand. Child of the King....this is just what we were discussing last night and ties in nicely with RoG's post today. He keeps us connected, doesn't He? I love the threads of Him that keep interweaving through us to each other and hopefully I guess, out from the inside of us. Does that make sense? :) Sorry it is so long... but hey....I didn't write it.....it just totally spoke to me today. Grace Notebook Maladjusted Flesh By John Woodward October 22, 2000 When I stroll down memory lane I am very blessed by my heritage of loving and supportive parents, grandparents and great grandparents. Humanly speaking, my life has been derived from them and they have left contributions and influences that have had a part in shaping my personality. Some of these relatives, who have been promoted to glory, gave items to me which I still have. For example my paternal grandfather, A. M.Woodward, once gave me his bowling ball and on another occasion his antique watch. More than these, I treasure fond memories of his love, humor and generosity. Allow me to let the bowling ball represent maladjusted flesh patterns.(If you would see my score sheet at the bowling alley, you might guess the connection!) The antique watch can represent the well-adjusted flesh patterns. The Bible speaks of the flesh as an inward spiritual nemesis: "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish" (Gal 5:16,17). The flesh (Self-Life) is a condition or way of living out of one's own resources as if one is independent of God. The flesh (ethical use) is both sin-stained and sin-trained. We each have developed our own unique version of the flesh. Bill Gillham has categorized basic flesh orientations: "We can lump all Christians into three broad categories: Yukky Flesh, Plain Vanilla Flesh, and USDA Choice Flesh. The person with Yukky Flesh has been reared in an environment where, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get his love supply out of it by do-it-yourself tactics... The Plain Vanilla, or average, Flesh person has been moderately successful, neither a roaring success nor a total failure at getting his needs for self-esteem met. The USDA Choice Flesh person is everyone's candidate for Mr. Christian. His high self-esteem is a result of his skill at milking love out of the world." Michael Wells has described the programming of the flesh this way. "Every sin that was committed, idol trusted, and identity message received had to register in your mind, will, and emotions (your soul), and therefore the complete history of your old nature is stored there. When the old man is put to death and replaced with Christ's life and Spirit, we are one with Him and He with us (John 17:21)... We receive new spirits, but our old souls containing the old information remain." When we think of the works of the flesh, we primarily identify unethical behavior as listed in Galatians 5:19-21 (the "bowling ball" variety ). However, there are behaviors and attitudes that are more socially acceptable, yet still derive from the flesh. The former might be dubbed "self-rottenness", the latter "self- righteousness". The common trait is that these characteristics derive from the flesh instead of by the indwelling Spirit of God. God's will for us as believers in the Lord Jesus is to replace our old 'self' qualities with Christ-like qualities; this process unfolds as we walk in the Spirit. The following lists contrast maladjusted flesh and the corresponding qualities the believer has in Christ. Maladjusted "flesh" may prompt you to feel negatively [but the spiritual truth states that in Christ you are the opposite.] worthless [precious] unwanted [chosen] inferior [destined for glory] emotionally blocked [free to feel] depressed [overflowing with joy] isolated [involved] introspective [looking unto Jesus] performance-based [accepted in the Beloved] undisciplined [self-controlled] self-condemned [Christ-esteemed] self-rejected [totally forgiven] God's directive to us is well stated in Romans 12:1,2: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a LIVING SACRIFICE, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (emphasis added) The plan is to look closer at the "well adjusted" flesh patterns (the "antique watch" variety). The remedy for every believer's unique flesh patterns is to abide in Christ, which includes reaffirming our identity in Christ, presenting ourselves to God moment by moment as instruments of righteousness, and depending upon the power of the Holy Spirit. Our aim should be that of 2 Corinthians 7:1, "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh [old programming] and spirit [deceptive messages from the Enemy], perfecting holiness in the fear of God." "Bowling ball flesh" (maladjusted programming) will turn us toward the gutter every time. Our only hope is to constantly yield to the guiding hands of our Savior. J.B.W.for Oct. 22, 2000; reissued/revised from Vol.2 #21

A Loving Friendship

This is a wonderful thought today of the loving friendship that Jesus has with us. The grace that He extends and the Grace that He is. He is many things to me....today, He is my Friend. "Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping and then, with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away." - George Eliot -

What you need....you have!

Barlow Girl I Need You To Love Me from Another Journal Entry Why? Why are You still here with me? Didn’t You see what I’ve done? In my shame I want to run, And hide myself. Yeah, but it’s here I see the Truth, I don’t deserve You. But I need You to love me, And I, I won’t keep my heart from You this time. And I’ll stop this pretending that I can, Somehow deserve, what I already have I need You to love meI, I have wasted so much time Pushing You away from me. I just never saw how You Could cherish me. Cause You’re a God who has all things, And still You want me. And I need You to love me, And I, I won’t keep my heart from You this time. And I’ll stop this pretending that I can, Somehow deserve what I already have. Your love makes me forget what I have been. Your love makes me see who I really am. Your love makes me forget what I have been. And I need You to love me, I need You to love me, And I’ll stop this pretending that I can, Somehow deserve what I already have I need You to love me. I need You to love me.

Christ is my very life.....not those darn kids....

Deep breath in......slowly out..... So today, I have had some real sense of what "feeling" alone is like... like some of the other people in my life have experienced....I have had a kick in the butt today... ..that tells me I may have been living my life through my kids (just a tad), (stop nodding everybody), and I really needed to see this .....I cannot have any expectations met through them...I cannot look at them to fulfill anything in me ....through some weird mom type thing....I think I have done this for a long time... well, 7 years or so now...that I have been raising these kids alone.... and now the last of the ducklings are moving on....into their own lives....and whoa! revelation.....I am not alone....never alone...I know that...but always having had the kids to deal with, and live with and chill with and whatever.....I have not had to experience this 'aloneness', not yet ....not really...and today it just came to a real headwater within me.....I cannot continue to keep my 'busyness', with kids, grandkids.....work, the other work...etc...and anything else that keeps me from the One thing....the One thing ....that is of most importance and that is my Life that is Him....I am astounded how He continues to grow me up.....in Him....Him in me....and through me as me....and just when I think I have come to a comfortable place....something happens and I see a word or phrase in Scripture....with the unmistakable highlighter of the Holy Spirit on it....and it is for me.....He is speaking.....there is no comfort ...no place that I can rest.....except in Him.....always in Him. This body....this soul and all of this earthly life that I continue to TRY to live ......is nothing....this world system....is nothing.....I am only whole...and I only belong....eternally to Jesus....everything else may have it's blessing, and it may have it's curses....but it isn't who I am.....it doesn't bring me the Peace that is Jesus....the Life that is Jesus....the Truth that is Jesus.

Music of your life....

Music means so much to me....

My life's events are always hinged on that one great song....remember this one?

Have you heard that one?

I have been spending a lot of time listening to some the great C.D.s that I have.

The stories....some based on Truth....some on lies...how powerfully they touch our lives...at that one moment....never to bring back.

How wide the realm of music....how unfathomable the heavenly choir's chorus to Jesus.

I hear the whispers of songs throughout my day....I am usually humming or singing.....whistling and yodeling....well, maybe not yodeling.... :)

Music makes me happy. Sing on!

Casting Crowns - Praise You In This Storm - from the C.D. Lifesong I was sure by now That You would have reached down And wiped our tears away. Stepped in and saved the day. But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining. As the thunder rolls I barely hear You whisper through the rain; "I'm with you" And as Your mercy falls, I raise my hands and praise the God who gives And takes away. I'll praise You in this storm And I will lift my hands For You are who You are No matter where I am And every tear I've cried You hold in Your hand. You never left my side And though my heart is torn I will praise You in this storm. I remember when I stumbled in the wind. You heard my cry. You raised me up again. My strength is almost gone. How can I carry on If I can't find You? As the thunder rolls, I barely hear You whisper through the rain; "I'm with you" And as Your mercy falls I raise my hands and praise the God who gives And takes away. I lift my eyes unto the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, The Maker of Heaven and Earth.

Get over yourself!

These thoughts from Tozer....ring so true....when will we stop trying to do, think, say, the right thing ....and let Him ....Jesus....do, think, say, the right thing He would. We get so bent out of shape if anyone has an opinion that may be contrary to ours or....heaven forbid....are contrary to us personally....ewwww......what of it.......Jesus can handle this and if we are offended.... maybe it isn't Him showing Himself through us....we might be in the way....you think? It might be Jesus in the other person...speaking to my flesh....hmmm ...there's a thought....Pondering away another Friday night.

Trials and Pain: The Labor of Self-love

For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men?

For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. Galatians 1:10

The labor of self-love is a heavy one indeed. Think for yourself whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking slightingly of you. As long as you set yourself up as a little god to which you must be loyal there will be those who will delight to offer affront to your idol. How then can you hope to have inward peace?

The heart's fierce effort to protect itself from every slight, to shield its touchy honor from the bad opinion of friend and enemy, will never let the mind have rest. Continue this fight through the years and the burden will become intolerable.

Yet the sons of earth are carrying this burden continually, challenging every word spoken against them, cringing under every criticism, smarting under each fancied slight, tossing sleepless if another is preferred before them.Such a burden as this is not necessary to bear. Jesus calls us to His rest, and meekness is His method.

The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort.
The Pursuit of God, 112."

Cry Out to Jesus

Cry Out To Jesus Words by Mac Powell / Music by Third Day To everyone who's lost someone they loved Long before it was their time You feel like the days you had were not enough When you said goodbye And to all of the people with burdens and pains Keeping you back from your life You believe that there's nothing and there is no one Who can make it right There is Hope for the helpless Rest for the weary Love for the broken heart There is Grace and Forgiveness Mercy and Healing He'll meet you wherever you are Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on They've lost all of their faith in love They've done all they can to make it right again Still it's not enough For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains You try to give up but you come back again Just remember that you're not alone in your shame And your suffering When your lonely And it feels like the whole world is falling on you You just reach out, you just cry out to Jesus Cry to Jesus To the widow who struggles with being alone Wiping the tears from her eyes For the children around the world without a home Say a prayer tonight Cry out to Jesus

Benjamin

Another song from Sanctus Real that tonight....means something. A friend, from the study group on Tuesday nights passed away yesterday. She was an older woman, but her death came swiftly and without warning. Her earth suit is now but dust.....she knew that her body was not who she was. It was where she lived while she was here on earth. And now she lives elsewhere. And we just talked about this on Tuesday. This song is obviously about a friend who has passed on but whose son is left with a part of him in him.....and also lives with the life of the Father....in him. Just knowing that we are connected because we are the Body.....forever, eternally and always. Rain falls outside. I think the sky must know what's happening tonight. Children born while fathers die. It's that circle of life that we all live in time, and we've been friends for a long, long time. So if you can't talk, just cry. . . . And know that we will talk on the other side. It's bitter cold outside but the Son still shines cuz' we can feel it.... Benjamin you mark the life, that's been left behind, we see Him in your eyes and we will be friends for a long, long time, so until you can talk, just cry. . . . And know that we will talk for the rest of our lives and He gives and He takes and it makes us strong when He gives, He takes and it makes us strong when He gives,and He takes and it makes us strong when He gives, He takes and He makes and it makes us strong cuz we will be friends for a long, long time so until you can talk, just cry and know that we will talk for the rest of our lives.... cuz we will be friends for a long, long time So until you can talk just cry And know that we will talk for the rest of our lives Just know that we'll be friends for the rest of our lives.

Timely

My grace is sufficient for you..." (2 Cor. 12:9a)________________________________________ Living or Just Existing? By Bill and Toni Morgan November 30, 2006 Many people today go through life only existing. Why is that? What have they lost or what did they never have, that would put them in such a state? We experience this lack of life when we haven't truly given Christ our all. You say, I know He's in control. He created everything, and since He did, He's got to have me in His hand. But, why do I feel so far from Him? Why do I feel so empty, without the hope I know I should have? Galatians 2:20 says we were crucified with Christ, nevertheless we live; yet not us but Christ lives in us! Paul was saying that Christ is our life. That's why we can walk out the time here on earth with true joy! The life yielded to Christ is full in every sense of the word. Full in joy, full in gratefulness, full in hope, full in enthusiasm, full with LIFE--all of life. Yes, there will be sorrow. Yes, there will be trials, times when things are difficult. But does that mean that God is not still on His throne? No, a thousand times "No!" Emphatically,"No!!" God has not lost His touch. God has not lost His caring. God has not left us to our own devices. We have His Spirit within us to give us life --a capacity to live beyond existence, beyond self-centeredness. Does this mean that if we once yield our all to Christ we won't have to worry about sin anymore? No, that's not the case. In his book, If IPerish, I Perish, Ian Thomas says, "The godliest of people still have lurking within them the most terrible potential for evil. It is the godliest people who know it best. And it is the acknowledgement of that very fact that is the secret to their godliness. They learned long ago, and often by bitter experience, that character does not change for the better by improving the self life, but rather by allowing it to be replaced by the Holy Spirit"-- the Christ life. Micah 6:8 gives us a concise picture of what God expects of His people. We are told to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with Him. The justice and mercy we can grasp pretty well, but what does it mean to walk with Him in humility? Humility is often called meekness in the Bible. But today, meekness is usually equated to weakness. Yet, the Bible says that Moses was the meekest man on earth (Num. 12:3). Now, you don't lead a million plus people through the wilderness for forty years and be a weakling. What does it mean that Moses was meek? The last ten years we lived in New Orleans, we had the privilege of doing a live Nativity scene at City Park where 100,000 people a week go to see the lights at Christmas time. In one of the gardens, we had the usual characters plus live sheep, a donkey and occasionally a calf. After our performances each night, my boys and I loaded the animals into our pickup and took them to the stable where they were housed. Once we had them in their stalls, fed them and got them settled for the night, we wandered around, looking at the beautiful horses that were there as well.One night there was a horse named Mr. Cooper standing in his stall. He was a huge animal. His back was about eye level with me (I'm 6'2"), his chest was massive; I could walk under his chin without even touching it. There is no way anyone could control that animal unless he allowed it. But he let his rider direct his every action--when to go, where to go, how fast, when to turn, when to stop. Everything was under the direction of his rider--with Mr. Cooper's yieldedness, of course. That was the picture of Moses in the Old Testament. He yielded himself to God for His direction. Everything Moses did, every move he made, was based on God's plan and purpose for his life. We are called on to do the same thing--only we have the advantage of having our director within us. Christ's very life is our life--if we will allow Him to have that place by yielding ourselves to Him. Our yieldedness-- yieldedness to the life of Christ in us, makes all the difference in the world as to whether we are living or just existing! Bill and Toni Morgan serve as lead counselors at Faith FamilyMinistries, P.O. Box 1200, Blue Ridge, GA. 30513, Ph. 706-632-8886.This article is from their monthly publication, The InnKeeper. ffm@faithfamily.net www.Faithfamily.net

For the Unusual Ones

Tozer Devotional Today Trials and Pain: Piles of Ashes Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. --Hebrews 12:11 If God has singled you out to be a special object of His grace you may expect Him to honor you with stricter discipline and greater suffering than less favored ones are called upon to endure.... If God sets out to make you an unusual Christian He is not likely to be as gentle as He is usually pictured by the popular teachers. A sculptor does not use a manicure set to reduce the rude, unshapely marble to a thing of beauty. The saw, the hammer and the chisel are cruel tools, but without them the rough stone must remain forever formless and unbeautiful. To do His supreme work of grace within you He will take from your heart everything you love most. Everything you trust in will go from you. Piles of ashes will lie where your most precious treasures used to be. That Incredible Christian, pp. 122-124 "Lord, give me the grace to withstand 'the saw, the hammer and the chisel.' I want the finished product; I often chafe under the process. I submit myself today to Your working. Amen."

Sanctus Real - Music of the Day

Sanctus Real’s song “I’m Not Alright”.

If weakness is a wound
That no one wants to speak of
Then “cool” is just how far we have to fall
I am not immune
I only want to be loved
But I feel safe behind the firewall
Can I lose my need to impress?
If you want the truth,
I need to confess I’m not alright
I’m broken inside, broken inside
And all I go through
It leads me to you, it leads me to you
Burn away the pride
Bring me to my weakness
Until everything I hide behind is gone
And when I’m open wide
With nothing left to cling to
Only you are there to lead me on
Cause honestly, I’m not that strong
I’m not alright I’m broken inside, broken inside
And all I go through
It leads me to you, it leads me to you
And I move, and I move, and I move…closer to you
And I move, and I move, and I move…closer to you
And I move, and I move, and I move…closer to you
And I move, and I move, and I move…
I’m not alright I’m broken inside, broken inside broken inside, broken inside
And all I go through
Leads me to you, leads me to you
I’m not alright, I’m not alright, I’m not alright…that’s why I need you

Revelation

So last night was spent just listening to some great music and a little great teaching....it always is a good night when I can relax and chill after a study night and just appreciate Christ as my life and the amazing way He is weaving His Life in me and some of my old ways of thinking and through me and He shows me that He is just so good and leads me into this life of freedom as I give up this life of my control. Everything is so connected... so relational to Him and this becomes very evident when I keep my spiritual eyes and ears open to Him. Discussion the night before was about how come this new covenant teaching on Grace and Life is not 'really' taught....you know...like in sermons etc....our holiness? our righteousness, our identity in Christ? What difficult concepts to grasp for some of us who have been raised in a more legalistic environment. And what is so cool is that our identity in Christ is only understood by the revelation of the Holy Spirit. The hidden or missed understanding of this message is shown clearly even in Scripture. "We can have everything in Christ and not know it" as Frank said just yesterday....to me anyway :). I remember going through this time of muddlement when I first came into Grace. I see this in others....I know that we can miss the message of the grace of God unless the Holy Spirit leads us into this understanding by revelation. This totally makes us free, though doesn't it.....sharing the truth with others is wonderful but without the Holy Spirit doing His work in the minds and thoughts and hearts of those others....they won't see. And when you see a glimmer of understanding....in someone who maybe didn't have it before....So cool! Like a light goes on....and you know you can give up your right to be right....and correct....and the one who is going to enlighten.....it ain't never going to happen....everyone is at a different place ..... and God knows just where that is ....and you can fellowship with others who no way maybe share the same doctrine ..because being right is so no longer important and if we think we have arrived at a total understanding...I don't think so...because what we think...doctrinally, right now....has to be open for change...as there is always more being revealed as we are open to the Holy Spirit...and so this IS progressive....and always a process..........and we can love and reason with people...and also let things go ....if they have to be let go...if someone doesn't see or 'disagrees' or whatever...because, that is between them and God and He is the One doing the revealing....not us....we can't beat the new covenant teaching into anyone....so when someone like in a group you belong to or whatever...(Bible study group) or just a friend or an aquaintance. ... is not 'getting it', the best thing to do....is ....just love them through it...pray that the Holy Spirit would reveal Truth to them....that their spirits would hear and see.... and that might be stem from seeing Christ in you.....That is what I was impressed with last night and to see the Light start to come on in a life that so desperately needs to know that Light in a real way....that is awesome. Thanks again to those who nudged me to this place that I am ....not staying here....but living here right now...right where I am..with Him... now....and allowing me to ask for the Holy Spirit to allow revelation to continue to come onto me in this Life that is Christ....so much farther to go.....but O Joy of Joys.....what a journey it is turning into!! 1 Corinthians 2:1-10 (NASB) "And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, So that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of the age, who are passing away; But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory. The wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood, for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; But just as it is written, Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him." For to us God revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God."

With Christ

by Hillsong So many things I realize that I could live without So many things that I despise and still I live them out There's so many reasons in my brokenness it seems To lose my life and let a Servant be my King I've been crucified with Christ And I no longer live Jesus.... forever lives in me So many words that never say the way I really feel So many ways to live a life to make 'I love You' real There's so many times I know I'll choose to die to me To magnify the One who died to make me free I've been crucified with Christ And I no longer live Jesus.... forever lives in me

The Only Name

by Hillsong Your Name is high and exalted Far above everything that's named Your Name's the only name, Jesus By which all men can be saved Your Name is a strong tower I run to You and I am safe My greatest honour, Lord, Is to speak Your Name Jesus, my Lord Jesus Emmanuel, You are with us Jesus, Jesus, Jesus Christ is the Lord I come and behold You You cover me Deliver me Lord I have set my love on You I dwell within Your secret place Under Your shadow Mighty god

Imagine That!

My thoughtful and insightful brother, J. Samuel Thomas .....is reading Sparks.....how absolutely wonderful for him. This is from his blog. Never think you are not being read in the blogosphere. Your thoughts because of Christ in you.....touch others. "Yet Another Profound Statement From T. Austin Sparks." The True Church Now With Christ In Heaven "Why am I saying that? Because it is of very great practical application and value. For the Church is a heavenly body, seated with Him (Eph. 2:6). We therefore need have no moment’s worry about the true Church. Come down to the earth and see how men worry about their ‘church’, and their churches, and their ‘things’. They have got to look after the ‘thing’: they have got to take care of it, they have got to keep it. They are the custodians of this thing, and they watch jealously and fiercely over it. What a lot of worry they have, and what a lot of trouble—just because it is something on the earth that has got to be looked after. What a grand thing it is, then, to be in the realm of the heavenly Church, where there is no need to worry about trying to preserve something and keep it going and see that it does not pass out! There is nothing of that at all about a work that is a heavenly work, that is united with Christ in Heaven. There is all the difference when you are on heavenly ground. You need not worry or fret to try and keep the thing going, lest it should break down, and you would be left without your ‘pet’, without the thing for which you spent all your time and your resources. A heavenly thing is in the custodianship of One Who—thank God—is above all these things, and at rest."

Amazing

? Do you know that? 1) Psalm 118 is the middle chapter of the entire Bible. 2) Before Psalm 118, Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible. 3) After Psalm 118, Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. 4) There are 594 chapters each before and and after Psalm 118. 5) That if you add up all the chapters except Psalm 118, you get a total of 1188 chapters. 6) Incidentally, 1188 or Psalm 118 verse 8 also is the middle verse of the entire Bible. The central verse should have a fairly important message don't you think? Here it is. Psalm 118:8 "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." Hmmmm......Truth is stranger than fiction!

I am Content

I know He knows me, He loves me and He will never forsake me. Whatever circumstance I am in....it cannot go awry. There can be no misintepretation.....whatever happens is because that is what is. He is in control and His glory is what it is all about. I would like to be a seer of today's events and tomorrows outcomes. But I am not. May everything I do and wherever I find myself....be for the glory of God. All of my life is spiritual (sounds a little prideful, doesn't it, yet not mis-spoken, for it is truth that He dwells in me whether or not I feel Him) ....not just Sunday morning.....and I would like to give all my Sunday mornings to Him. No more ....agenda, foreplan, program. I will sit with Jesus for as long as He asks me to. I may feel alone....at times....but I am in His Presence ....all the time. Might fellowship with Him be because of Him all the time......may my heart burn all the time because of His Spirit within me.....I will not look for Him. He is here. I will wait. He will make me content wherever I am and whatever I am doing....because I know His power is within me....and my communion is with Him.

Psalm 23 (The Message)

God, my shepherd!
I don't need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
You find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to Your word,
You let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.

Even when the way goes through
Death Valley,
I'm not afraid
When You walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd's crook
Makes me feel secure.

You serve me a six-course dinner
Right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
My cup brims with blessing.

Your beauty and love chase after me
Every day of my life.
I'm back home in the house of God
For the rest of my life.

By Him Alone

How do we live in a world that is so performance oriented, so success oriented, so posession driven and so intent on doing everything possible to make everything about what you have, what you look like, what you can do in your own ability, what you can achieve in your own strength, as believers? When me, myself and I, are of the utmost importance, when the top 5% of the people in the world (my statistic), make the rules, the standards for our behaviors, our acceptance quotient ....you know? How do you live, how do you relate to others, your family, how do you expect our kids to understand and emulate anything other than what they see in the world around them ...secular or Christian mind you because as of late and probably for a long, long time....one seems no better than the other? This question, topic came up this week....it is a biggie....because as we look around, things are not too great....things are frustrating and scary and painful and just not right..... The answer is simple....we cannot do anything....we will not now or ever change anybody, ourself included, no matter how bad things get, look and actually are. The way is not about doing anything....unless it be by just coming to the place of complete brokenness and realizing that it is here that total surrender to God (all our self, our rights, our actions, our lives, really) is the only response to this despair that is around us. As we allow Christ in us to touch others through us, in that one-on-one wonderful, spiritual, amazing way that He does....things happen....not because of us....because it is Him....and He is the only answer to other people's pain and disappointments. It is in that supernatural exchange of Him and His character that others realize (or not), that this is something different....something good.....something real.....and something they are desperately seeking......! I checked out walkingchurch this a.m. and saw a stirring account from T. Austin Sparks.....shared by RoG.....and my thoughts were ....about how different we all are in spite of our sameness because it is the same Christ that we live in and move in and have our being in.....and how no way no how....do I want to be anything more....in this world's estimation.....there is way too much disappointment out there.....unless He is the one leading me there.....and I wonder why would He? There is an insurmountable amount of stuff that He is doing right here....one-on-one.....through this very imperfect and badly battered vessel....and that is sometimes more than I can fathom.....how I so appreciate the ones that He has used to minister Himself through to me.....I don't need more or any fame or name or other than what is here....it is enough...it is more than "I" can handle....I marvel that He is doing things in the people around me......glimpses of lives....in the process He is manufacturing for them.....one time meetings....life-long relationships....He is the one making the difference....whatever my situation or circumstance.....from mountaintop to valley low....makes no never mind to the One who can work through anyone .....anytime.....to others....as we continue to keep our eyes....spiritual and otherwise on Him alone.....everything else is just not satisfying......and everyone else is just not enough. He is Grace.....He is the One....that can do anything....but it probably won't be large-scale movements and miracles....although He can do that.....but I see Him in the way I view Him so much in the Word as He ministered.....so miraculously ....one-to-one......as He touched the lives of the individual...right there in front of Him.....focussed on that one heart....giving His love and time and attention to that one......that is how we live ....and how we can continue on in this world....by allowing Him....to touch the lives of those around us....right where we are.....at this moment....not looking for an opportune time, not looking for a better thing....a better audience...a more perfect appointment......just stepping out of the frame...and letting Him do what He would. Nothing else will work. How cool it is when this life we live in Him, just flows from one moment to another.....all connected....all relationally connected....all set in motion to astound and amaze us as we see His Hand, His direction, His agenda...on us....on me.....how much He is enthralled with the likes of me. This I do not understand at times. But He has impressed upon me this week who I truly am.....and I know that He is the One who has shown me this in a very real and Hands on way if you will. His grace is sufficient for today...for me....for this moment....as I need to see it...He knows all this and at times the glimpses of this blow me away. Sorry for the ramble.....sorry if you don't understand.....He knows of what I speak.

Os Today

Winning into Freedom "If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed" John 8:36 If there is even a trace of individual self-satisfaction left in us, it always says, "I can't surrender," or "I can't be free." But the spiritual part of our being never says "I cant"; it simply soaks up everything around it. Our spirit hungers for more and more. It is the way we are built. We are designed with a great capacity for God, but sin, our own individuality, and wrong thinking keep us from getting to Him. God delivers us from sin - we have to deliver ourselves from our individualtiy. This means offering our natural life to God and sacrificing it to Him, so He may transform it into spiritual life through our obedience. God pays no attention to our natural individuality in the development of our spiritual life. His plan runs right through our natural life. We must see to it that we aid and assist God, and not stand against Him by saying, "I can't do that." God will not discipline us; we must discipline ourselves. God will not bring our "arguments...and every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5) - we have to do it. Don't say, "Oh, Lord, I suffer from wandering thoughts." Don't suffer from wandering thoughts. Stop listening to the tyranny of your individual natural life and win freedom into the spiritual life. "If the Son makes you free...." Do not substitute Savior for Son in this passage. The Savior has set us free from sin, but this is the freedom that comes from being set free from myself by the Son. It is what Paul meant in Galatians 2:20 when he said, "I have been crucified with Christ..." His individuality had been broken and his spirit had been united with his Lord; not just merged into Him, but made one with Him."...you shall be free indeed" - free to the very core of your being: free from the inside to the outside. We tend to rely on our own energy, instead of being energized by the power that comes from identification with Jesus. Be conscious of God. Romans 8.

I am Secure

Just a reminder for those of us who can only appropriate our identity over time and by repetitive review..... because sometimes it just doesn't feel like....it is the truth....He says so.

Taken from Neil T. Anderson's book... Victory Over the Darkness.

Who I Am in Christ

I am Secure....

Romans 8:1-2 I am free forever from condemnation

Romans 8:28 I am assured all works together for good.

Romans 8:31-34 I am free from any charge against me.

Romans 8:35-39 I cannot be separated from the love of God.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 I am established, anointed, sealed by God.

Colossians 3:3 I am hidden with Christ in God.

Philippians 3:20 I am a citizen of heaven.

2 Timothy 1:7 I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.

Hebrews 4:16 I can find grace and mercy in time of need.

1 John 5:18 I am born of God; the evil one cannot touch me.

Our World Today - Torture

The news today is not good. We know it will not get better. Article from MSN News. (Eritrea is on the eastern border of Africa).


An Eritrean gospel singer, jailed because of her Christian beliefs and allegedly tortured, has been released after two years in detention, said Amnesty International.


CBC Arts
The human rights group announced Helen Berhane was let go after being held without charge at the Mai Serwa military camp north of the capital Asmara.

"She’s not in good health but at least she's released," Martin Hill of Amnesty told BBC radio on Sunday.

"We understand she’s at her home, or her family home."

Hill said the singer was confined to a wheelchair, the culmination of injuries to her feet and legs.

"The authorities reportedly tortured her many times to make her recant her faith," Amnesty International said in a statement. The organization said it didn't know the exact day Berhane was let go, but concluded that it happened this week.

The group's website says the 30-year-old performer was arrested on May 13, 2004, shortly after she released an album of Christian music. She was detained after refusing to sign a document vowing to end all participation in Christian activities.

The site said Berhane "spent most of her time in detention in a metal shipping container, suffocating hot during the day and freezing cold at night" with no toilet or washing facilities.

Eritrean government criticizes Amnesty

Eritrea's Foreign Minister Ali Abdu denies any knowledge of her case. Instead, he reacted to Amnesty International's announcement by attacking the organization.

"Who has given them the right to be the global police of this world?" said Abdu.

Amnesty International says 2,000 members of evangelical church groups have been arrested over several years.

The government permits only three Christian groups to meet: Orthodox, evangelical Lutheran, and Catholics. Berhane belonged to the unregistered Rema Church.

The number of Muslims and Christians in the African nation are about equal, but the government fears an imbalance could create a violent conflict and is concerned about a rising number of Christian groups.

The U.S. State Department listed Eritrea in September among eight countries cited for severe violations of religious freedoms. The others were: Iran, Burma, China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Vietnam.

With files from the Associated Press

Timely Devotion

Another Literature Ministries International Devotion.
Timely words.


November 5
Spiritual Warfare and Sin: Don't Suffer Shipwreck

This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies
previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good
warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having
rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck....
--1 Timothy 1:18-19

Yet the ministry is one of the most perilous of professions. The
devil hates the Spirit-filled minister with an intensity second only
to that which he feels for Christ Himself. The source of this hatred
is not difficult to discover. An effective, Christ-like minister is
a constant embarrassment to the devil, a threat to his dominion, a
rebuttal of his best arguments and a dogged reminder of his coming
overthrow. No wonder he hates him.

Satan knows that the downfall of a prophet of God is a strategic
victory for him, so he rests not day or night devising hidden snares
and deadfalls for the ministry. Perhaps a better figure would be the
poison dart that only paralyzes its victim, for I think that Satan
has little interest in killing the preacher outright. An
ineffective, half-alive minister is a better advertisement for hell
than a good man dead. So the preacher's dangers are likely to be
spiritual rather than physical, though sometimes the enemy works
through bodily weaknesses to get to the preacher's soul.
God Tells the Man Who Cares, 90-91.

"Lord, the battle is intense and the enemy is strong. I pray for
every one of my fellow-servants this morning, especially those who
may be close to succumbing. Give Your great grace and victory
today. Amen."

These are the days....

Okay, so .... I haven't posted since .... Attended the Grace Walk Conference in Waterloo this weekend. See prior post about this. What can I say....it was a great review of some truths that I have accepted and a wonderful time to prepare for an upcoming study of these very truths that were reviewed at this conference. One very exciting thing to come out of the conference was that new life in Christ was accepted by one attending. Hallelujah! He uses all venues to bring those He so chooses unto Himself at His appointed time. To think that this new believer starts their journey with a strong message of who they now are in Christ...what that identity is and looks like and how God will reveal all to them as they just learn to fully trust in Christ who is their Life, was just truly joy unspeakable. Another truly wonderful part of this time was being able to share this experience with my two daughters and their friend who came along for the purposes of "shopping" and having a short pre-winter weekend get-away. Three 16 year old girls and me....what a time was had by all. :) It never fails to amaze me how the minds of teenage girls work and this time with them, out of the normal routines, provided joy unspeakable to me as well. It was a time to share, a time to listen and a time to watch as every detail and every discussion was an opportunity for Him to teach us at the very place we are....what He is doing and who He is and how that is lived out in our lives wherever we are. So very cool and I am glad that He allowed me this time to see all of that! We stayed at a very nice Inn just outside of St. Jacobs and I would love to return to this area a little earlier in the fall another time to breathe in the uniqueness and beauty that exhibits itself there. Again, I digress. What I really wanted to post was that as I caught up with the things at home after a very long...nap...I read the news release about Ted Haggard. This just reminded me of how precious this life in Christ is and how when one focusses on self and not on Him....no matter who you are...no matter where you are.... how that can change your life, how you must live with the consequences of failing to look to Jesus who is the very Life you live if you know Him....really know Him. We who know what our true identity in Christ is ....know that the flesh can rise up in a man...or a woman...and that has nothing to do with who that man or woman is in Christ....and only God knows the heart of this man... but the enemy is chuckling today....what a blow to the 'evangelical' circles....another broken life .... we can accept this and know that yep, we all can allow these things to interfere with our relationship with Christ and know that it is not anything to do with who we are in Christ...that this is brokenness in raw form....and we all come to that place and sometimes over and over again....we have all been there in one form or another...and how Haggard responds is entirely about His relationship with Christ but it hurts 'the church', and gives ammunition to those who do not know .....and that makes my heart ache for this man....for his family....for all who are brought to their knees ....because of the flesh....because of self....whatever you want to call it....and for all those who turn away from 'the church' because of this. We know that this brokenness is sometimes not only necessary but beneficial.....and yet this shakes us still.....But God, will work this for His good .....idols of man are tumbling down....and God is still God and we are not.....and He is still on the Throne. May He take the Haggard family and the Haggard 'followers' through this time of brokenness.